Transcripts/The Boy
:Ester: But, Mother, do I have to? :Starfish Queen: Just this once, Ester. :Ester: But why? :Starfish Queen: Whenever your grandmother comes, you always look such a mess. Please, try to look nice this time. :Ester: Alright then. :Starfish Queen: Your grandmother should be here soon. I’ll call you when she comes. :Ester: Yes, Mother. Spikey Looks like we’re stuck here doing nothing, Spikey. :Spikey: gurgling :at window :Ester: Huh? :Polvina: window Ester! :Tubarina: window Open up! :Ester: Polvina! Tubarina! window What’s wrong? :Polvina: Leia heard the calls of a sick whale. :Tubarina: She might need our help. :Polvina: We’ve arranged to meet her. :Tubarina: Let’s go! :Ester: I can’t. :Tubarina: What did you say? :Ester: I’m not supposed to do anything until my grandmother visits. :Polvina: But Leia needs our help! :Tubarina: It’s an emergency! :Ester: What are you suggesting, that I rush out, help Leia, then get back before my grandmother comes and hope no one notices? :Polvina and Tubarina: Yeah! :Ester: OK. I can do that. Spikey, you stay here. :Spikey: gurgling :Ester: What are we waiting for? :Tubarina: Leia! We’re here! :Polvina: Ssh! She’s listening! :Tubarina: For what? :Ester: The sick whale! :calling :Leia: This way! :Polvina: Are you sure this is the right way, Leia? :Leia: I’m sure. :Tubarina: But that’s the Bubbles Lighthouse! :Leia: I know! :Ester: And we’re headed towards the surface! :Leia: I know that too! :Polvina: But Leia, don’t you know what this means? :Leia: Yes! We’re going to Dryland. :Polvina: You know we’re forbidden to go to Dryland. :Ester: We promised Leia we’d help her. :Tubarina: What sort of friends would we be if we stopped now? :Polvina: Oh, we are going to be so grounded! :Ester: Come on! :splashes, pause, then a final splash :Polvina: It’s so bright! :Leia: There he is! He’s stuck on the sand. :Ester: Let’s get to him! :Polvina: Stop! :Tubarina: annoyed What’s the problem? :Polvina: Don’t you remember the most important law of Salacia? :Leia: None of us should ever be seen by a Drylander. :Polvina: And what are we about to do? :Leia: But, if we don’t help the whale, he’ll die! :Ester: Isn’t there some law that says you can go to Dryland if it’s an emergency? :Tubarina: I don’t know, but if there isn’t a law like that, then there should be one! :Ester: That’s good enough for me! What do you think, Polvina? :Polvina: I think… sigh as long as no one sees us… :Tubarina: Which they won’t! :Ester: No way! :Polvina: Then let’s go. :splashing :Leia: Be still now. You’ll soon be free and back with your herd. :Whale: sounds :Ester: Once the tide comes in, we should be able to push him back to deeper water. annoyed You don’t have to look at me like that, it isn’t so silly. :Tubarina: Ester… :Ester: I know he’ll be heavy, but there are four of us. :Polvina: Ester, look! :Ester: gasp What is it? :Tubarina: It’s a boy! It’s a Dryland boy. :Ester: And he’s coming this way! He’ll see the whale soon! :Leia: And if he sees the whale… :Polvina: gasp He’ll see us! Come on! :splash away :splashing, makes sad sounds :resurface :Leia: We’ve got to go back and keep the whale wet, or else his skin will dry out! :Polvina: But we can’t show ourselves to a Drylander. :Tubarina: Can we wait until he goes away? :Ester: If he goes away, he might bring back more Drylanders. :Leia: But we have to do something! :Tubarina: Someone’s got to come up with a really good idea. :Polvina: And I might have one! away :Leia: Polvina, you can’t just run away! :Tubarina: She’s such a goody-goody sometimes. :Polvina: resurfaces Here’s the answer! :Ester: What, we throw seaweed at him? :Polvina: giggles No, silly, we use a disguise! :sees girls in disguise, gets scared and runs off screaming :Tubarina: Now what’ve we done? :Ester: At least he’s gone. Now we can get on with helping the whale. :Leia: Poor whale. His skin is so dry. water on whale :Whale: happier sounds :Polvina: The boy’s still here. :Ester: Maybe he can help us. :Tubarina: I’ll talk to him. No one can refuse to listen to the princess of the Shark Kingdom. :Polvina: Tubarina, be careful. :Tubarina: I will. :Ester: Tell him we’re… um… uh… Seaweedians. :Tubarina: Boy of the Dryland, step forward! We mean you no harm. Come! This is a special day for you, for today you meet the Seaweedians. We are here to rescue this young whale. What say you, boy of the Dryland? :Boy: “zubby-garmaldi-deno-meria” gibberish sounds :Tubarina: girls What did he say? :Ester: He said “zubby-garmaldi” something or other. :Tubarina: But what does it mean? :Polvina: Your speech wasn’t for nothing, Tubarina. The boy is staying. :Leia: Do you think we could ask him to help? :Ester: We can try. boy Can you help us, please? Help… us? :Boy: “zubby-garmaldi-deno-meria” gibberish sounds :Tubarina: annoyed Oh, forget him then! Keep working! :Polvina: He’s coming! :Leia: Good! We need all the help we can get! :splashing on whale, boy joins in as well :Ester: He does understand! :Starfish Queen: Ester! on door Ester, your grandmother’s here! :Spikey: slips into Ester’s bed :Starfish Queen: on door Ester! door You shouldn’t be sleeping at this time of the day! Come on now, it’s time to see Grandmother! blanket off of bed, gasps :Spikey: snoring :Starfish Queen: Spikey?! Where’s Ester? :Spikey: gurgling :Starfish Queen: Oh! That girl is going to be in very big trouble! :Ester: The tide’s coming in! :Polvina: We’ll be able to push him away from the beach soon! :calling :Leia: Oh no! Not that! Polvina, come with me! Quickly! :Ester: What’s she doing? :Polvina: I don’t know, but it sounds important! :Polvina: Leia, what is it? :Leia: I heard someone. :Polvina: Who? :Leia: There they are! They’re coming to help the young whale! :calling :Polvina: gasp But they’ll get stranded on the beach too! Can’t you stop them? :Leia: Stay, my friends, stay! :swimming past :Leia: Stop! You have to stop, you’re in danger! :calling :Leia: They won’t listen to me! :Tubarina: Where’s Leia? What’s keeping her? :Ester: to whales That’s what! :splash down, then resurface :Tubarina: grumbles We can’t let those whales come to the beach. They’ll get stranded too! :Ester: If Leia couldn’t stop them, how can we? :Tubarina: realisation The boy! Maybe he could help! :Ester: If he can understand us. boy The whales, boy. We’ve got to stop the whales. Help us! whales Stop! :Tubarina: Stay away! You’re in danger! :Boy: panicked Italian-like gibberish, which sounds like “Oohgudi renichi blari!” :and Polvina surface :Leia: You stopped them! How did you do it? :Ester: It was the boy. He did it! :Polvina: But how long will they stay away? :Leia: Not long! :Ester: So we’ve got to get the whale off the beach now. :Tubarina: Is the tide high enough? :Ester: We’ll soon find out. :calling :Ester: We all push on three. One, two, three. Push! :straining :Polvina: He’s not moving! :Ester: Look! The other whales are starting to move in! :Leia: No! Stay back! :Boy: Italian-like gibberish :Tubarina: What can we do? :Polvina: We need more help! :Ester: The only help around is those other whales. :Tubarina: But they can’t come any closer! :Polvina: We don’t need them to. We’ll tie up come kelp and make a rope! :Leia: Good thinking! I’ll tell them! :then resurface :Tubarina: Grab as much of this as you can! :Ester: I hope this works! :Polvina: It has to work! :Tubarina: Be ready, Leia! :Leia: We’re ready! :Ester: One, two, three. Push! :strain :Polvina: Pull, Leia! :then pause :Leia: Now! :sounds :Ester: straining Keep pushing! Keep it going! :make one final strain, then cheer as whale is freed :calling as rope snaps :Leia: I’ll go with them to make sure the young whale is alright. Thanks for helping, all of you. :Ester: Anytime, Leia. :Leia: I’ll see you at school! And thank the boy, too! away :Polvina: The boy! :Tubarina: We forgot about the boy! :Ester: Thank you for your help! :Tubarina: We couldn’t have done it without you! :splash away, boy leaves :Starfish Grandmother: Where is my granddaughter? You promised me I get to see her! :Starfish Queen: Ester should be here any moment. I’m sure of it. :Ester: I’m here, Mother! :Starfish Grandmother: Ester! :Ester: Grandmother! :Starfish Queen: Ester, just look at you! What have you been doing? :Ester: We rescued a whale stranded on a beach! :Starfish Queen: horrified A beach?! A beach on Dryland?! :Ester: It’s alright, Mother. It was perfectly safe and it was an emergency. :Starfish Queen: Oh, Ester! :Ester: And I’m sorry, I know you wanted me to look nice for Grandmother. :Starfish Grandmother: Look nice? I don’t want you to look nice, Ester. I want you to do just as you did and help others when they need it. :Ester: Really? :Starfish Grandmother: Now, I want you to tell me everything that happened. It sounds fascinating. :Starfish Queen: I’ll just go and prepare lunch. I think I’ve heard enough for today. :Starfish Grandmother: Right then, my dear, let’s hear all about it. :Ester: Will you promise to keep it a secret, Grandmother? :Starfish Grandmother: A secret? You have my word on it, I love secrets! :Ester: That’s what I hoped you’d say! :laugh